


PMD: Lost Spirit

by MidnightMorpher



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: F/F, F/M, I promise to be better?, Rewrite of Merge of Two worlds, Temporary Amnesia, but different plot, eh, no promises
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-05-02 01:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19189126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightMorpher/pseuds/MidnightMorpher
Summary: In a land with only Pokémon, a human boy was discovered in Treacherous Forest, injured and unconscious. He was brought back to the Nyral Guild, in order to find a way to bring him home, but little did they realise that there were people who didn't want him to return...





	1. A New Day, A New Ally

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, hello! Yeah, I'm back! So... about the state of my other fics, I have not given up on them, but I honestly don't have the motivation to go back to them. Maybe some day, but... not right now.
> 
> Anyway, this is pretty much a complete overhaul of Merge of Two Worlds. Nothing much to say, except that I hope that you'll like it =)
> 
> FINAL WORD COUNT: 5813

A/N: Hello, hello! So… yeah, a rewrite of a rewrite? Yeah, I can never be happy with what I do, so I have rewritten PMD: Lost Spirit again (sorry to those who read the previous version). I hope that you enjoy this one! =)

Another note, I'll be posting this on my other account, my previous one is MidnightMorpher. I have not abandoned it, just leaving it alone for a bit.

=0=

Chapter 1: A New Day, A New Ally

_..._

_..._

_... Ow..._

The first thing that came to him, as he slowly woke up, was how much his head hurt. He felt itchy grass blades under him when he clenched his hands. He attempted to move, but his limbs felt like they were weighed down by lead, and bolts of pain shot through his body at every movement.

He winced. It hurt a lot, but still, he couldn't stay lying on the grass forever.  _Just take it nice and slow. Nice and slow..._

Gritting his teeth, he forced back the waves of nausea and slowly rose to his feet. His knees were trembling, and his chest ached with each breath, but each passing second made it easier for him to stay on his own two feet.

Once he was certain that he wasn't going to collapse, he thought to look himself over. The sight of his arms and legs, covered with sickly purple and blue black blotches, was enough to make the nausea come back. He had a simple white shirt on, but he was sure that underneath it were more bruises, if the constant aching were to tell him anything. No wonder it hurt so much.  _Ow..._

He looked around himself. Trees more than twice as tall as him surrounded him in a ring, and the smell of water and cheerful bubbling told him that there was a brook right behind him. Nothing about this was familiar.  _Where am I?_

He looked at the brook again, and the sound of rushing water made him all too aware of his dry throat. Maybe a drink would help to clear his mind a little...

Limping to the edge of the bank, he dropped down to his knees and cupped a handful of water in his palms, tossing his head back and gulping it greedily. The action made his head ache again, but the relief of having his thirst quenched soon washed that away. A few more handfuls later, his shirt was drenched, but he felt a little better nonetheless.

Wiping his chin, he eyed his surroundings with a certain amount of bemusement.  _Huh, I don't remember being here before. Don't think I am supposed to be here... How did I get here anyway?_

He thought...

And thought...

And thought...

... But nothing came.

Something that felt almost like panic began rising up his throat.  _Wait, no, that can't be right. I can't forget. I can't just forget something this simple. How did I get here? How did I get so beat up? Where's home? What's going on?!_

Question after desperate questions, he still had no answers. Frustratingly, it felt like he had the answer  _right_  on the tip of his tongue, but they slipped through his fingers like water and into oblivion.  _I... I..._

His eyes stung, and the boy wrapped his arms around himself in a futile effort at self-comfort.  _No! No no no, this isn't happening! This... My name! My name is...!_

A few terrifying seconds passed... and he nearly cried when a single word popped up in his head: Angelo.  _Angelo! My name's Angelo!_

Embarrassingly enough, he could feel himself clinging onto his name like it was a precious treasure. It was just a name! Just a name... And yet, it was the only bit of memory he had left.

His eyes started stinging again at that realisation.  _No... why am I crying over this? It's just a stupid name!_  He tried to scrub away the forming tears furiously, and nearly jumped when his hand touched cloth instead of his own face. That was certainly enough to scare the tears out of him. "Huh? What the..."

He poked experimentally, running his fingers across his face. This cloth was wrapped around his head at eye level, almost like a blindfold, and yet he could still see? Now with curiosity eating at him, he turned back to the brook to look at his reflection.

It was very distorted, but what little he could see showed him a pale, drawn face staring back, with a purple piece of cloth tied over his eyes. He would've thought that it was a blindfold, except that somehow he could see through it.

_I wonder..._  Carefully, Angelo pulled it up a little. His vision suddenly went pitch black and his heart nearly stopped, nearly scratching himself pulling it back down in a hurry.  _Ah!_

What was going  _on_? He dropped to his knees, head in his hands. Nothing was making sense at all: he can't remember anything, he can't see without this cloth for some reason, he was all alone and nobody can help him!

Angelo breathed heavily in his hands, hand clawing through his hair.  _I can't panic right now, I have to get myself together... Breathe..._

A few seconds passed, and he managed to get his breathing back down to a somewhat regular rate. Angelo slowly brought his head back up. The reflection flinched. It was so weird... but he couldn't achieve anything if he kept panicking like this. If he could just find a local...

He finally got back to his feet, new goal in mind, and turned to face nose-to-nose with a zoroark.

"AH!"

"Woah!"

Angelo leapt back and nearly slipped into the brook. His arms spun like windmills as he tried to regain his balance, but the zoroark was faster. It lunged forward, wrapping its arms around him and pulling him back to his feet like he weighed nothing. Everything happened so fast, Angelo could only blink dumbly as he was released. "Uh..."

The zoroark didn't respond. It was surveying him with an air of suspicion, even as it let go of his arm. Like it was expecting Angelo to attack him... Unable to think of anything else, Angelo blurted out, "Thank you for saving me!"

For a moment, it lost its composure as its eyes widened. "O-oh, uh... No problem," it coughed, in a clearly male voice.

A few uncomfortable seconds passed as one scrutinised the other. Angelo was watching the zoroark closely; he might have saved him from falling into the brook, but the way he acted afterwards was getting him on edge. The zoroark's breathing was laboured, and his eyes were darting back and forth from Angelo to over his shoulder, for reasons that he could not fathom. Was there something behind him?

The zoroark was the one to break the silence. "Do you...  _understand_  me?" His question came out slightly breathy, as if he had been running prior to this.

Angelo nodded without hesitation. Something at the back of his mind seemed to tell him that this was normal. The zoroark, on the other hand, was looking at him like he grew a second head. "Yeah! Is there something wrong?"

"No!" The word seemed to slip out on its own accord as he half-turned away from him, muttering all the while. "The hell...  _human_... got here... but... no time for this..."

"Um..."

It then struck him. He was so dumb! Not a minute ago, he had been thinking about finding someone who lived here, and here was that person standing in the flesh! Or Pokémon, but that didn't matter. He could finally get some of his bearings!

However, by the time Angelo opened his mouth, the zoroark was already briskly walking away from him- almost running really, giving a quick shake of his head. "I don't have time for this. See you never," he said over his shoulder, waving him off.

"H-huh? Wait!" What was with the sudden change in attitude? Where was he going? "Please, I need to ask-"

"No."

"But-!"

" _NO!_ " he suddenly snarled, whirling around, and Angelo flinched backwards. Strangely, he could detect a healthy dose of fear underneath the anger in his charged voice. The zoroark's ears were twitching sporadically now. "I do not have the time for you, and I will  _not_  be seen with you if I can help it! Scram!"

His resolve faltered. "I... I..."

His aggressive posture slackened a little, but the zoroark still looked poised to run away. "Like I said, I'm busy!" he said. "So-"

Whatever else he was going to say, it was cut off by gleeful hollers behind Angelo. The zoroark's demeanour took a sudden turn as his entire body flinched and his ears pinned back, a fearful look spreading across his face. "Crap, they're here already?!"

His agitation started to affect Angelo too, and he shuffled his feet uncertainly as he asked, "Um, who's he-"

In a blink of an eye, the zoroark was already bolting away before he could finish talking, spooked by whatever made the yells.

Poor Angelo was left whipping his head left and right. He contemplated his choices. Run after the zoroark that just left him, or take his chances with the unknown assailant that just scared said zoroark off? The zoroark hadn't been much of a help before though, so maybe he could try talking to the other-

"Hold it right there, you scumbag!" a voice roared.

He immediately made up his mind. "Wait for me!" Angelo cried out, running after the zoroark.

He ran blindly through the forest. Branches grazed him as he barely dodged trees. Halfway through, he realised that he has no idea  _where_  the zoroark went, but he was already too far to care. He  _had_  to find the zoroark. He was his only potential way out of this mess.

Thankfully, it seemed that Lady Luck was smiling down on him today. The next turn rewarded him with a snarl and a squeal of pain, and he saw the zoroark punt away a green-yellow blob. The zoroark's eyes widened upon seeing him, but Angelo didn't give him a chance to run, lunging forward and practically wrapping himself around his arm. "Take me with you!"

"What the f- Hey, get off!" He frantically shook his arm and shoved at his head, but to no avail. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Please don't leave me!" he pleaded, looking up at him with puppy eyes.

Amidst their chaos, another voice decided to join the fray. "There he is!"

The zoroark gaped at him. " _You brought them here to me?!_ " he whispered furiously.

"Brought who?!"

The voice was getting nearer. "God damnit!" The zoroark bodily lifted him and pelted down a set of...stairs? Whatever it was, it was closed off as soon as he stopped running. The shouting was abruptly cut off, leaving a ringing silence as the duo tried to catch their breaths.

Angelo realises that he was still hanging onto Zoroark's arm. He flushed, letting go in a hurry. "Ah! S-sorry!"

"Bit too late for that now," he muttered, glaring daggers at him. "What the hell was  _that_?"

"What... What do you mean?" he asked nervously.

"This!" He gestured at his arm. "'Take me with you'? What were you expecting me to do when you forced me to bring you along?"

"I didn't make you do anything!"

"You put me on a spot!" he shot back.

Angelo flinched at that, hanging his head plucking at his shirt. It was true that he did that to stop Zoroark from running, but...

Zoroark let out an aggravated sigh. "So you want me to drag you along." It wasn't a question.

He nodded hesitatingly. "P... Please help me! I... I don't kn-know where I a-am." Despite his best efforts, his voice cracked from the stress.

"You don't know where you are."

A nod, slightly more confident this time. "Y-yes. Please, I need to get to the nearest town, or somewhere safe, I can't stand this place, it feels weird..." He was rambling on and on. Zoroark couldn't get in a word edgewise until he closed the gap between them and physically grabbed his shoulder, finally quieting him down.

"So, you want me to help you." Zoroark seemed calm enough, despite the tight hold he had on his shoulder. Angelo nodded. "And what do I get out of this?"

...

Uh oh.

"I thought so," Zoroark said smugly. "Why should I go out of my way to help you?"

Why? Why? Multiple reasons ran through his mind, but they fell flat every time he saw Zoroark's widening smirk. He was right. Angelo didn't want to admit it, but he was right. Zoroark had no obligation to help him, and it was obvious from earlier that he was more than willing to ditch him in the middle of a forest. "But..."

"But nothing. I'm leaving." With those words, Zoroark turned and walked away from the silent boy. Angelo stared at him helplessly. The only help that he had come across didn't care about him, and was getting further and further away...

But then Zoroark stopped. He was glancing at Angelo over his shoulder, an unreadable expression on his face. What was he doing? He wasn't doing anything. As Angelo watched, Zoroark shook his head again and took a few more steps forward, but then paused. Different expressions flickered across his face, each one wilder than the next, until-

"Bah, FINE!" Zoroark stomped back to the stunned Angelo and snatched up his wrist before he could react. "I'll help you, if you'll just stop  _looking_  at me like that! Just... Just don't fall behind or I'll leave you for good!"

Angelo finally found his tongue as he stuttered out, "B-But why are you suddenly-"

Anger flared up in his eyes. " _Ask anymore questions and I'll leave you_ ," he growled out.

His mouth snapped shut with a tiny "eep".

Once he was sure that he wasn't going to talk again, Zoroark began leading (dragging) him forward, muttering all the while, "Jeez, this is a bad idea..."

Angelo found himself almost agreeing with him, but stopped.  _No, you need this_ , he told himself.  _Just for a little while, until you reach a town and find help..._

=0=

"No, not here..."

Angelo barely managed to stifle a sigh when Zoroark backtracked around yet  _another_  corner. It had been only a few minutes, but the way his knees knocked against each other and his chest ached made it feel like they had been walking for hours at least.

"Wh...where are we g-going?" he panted.

"Finding the stairs, duh." Zoroark said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

" _What_  stairs? This is a... forest!"

"All dungeons have stairs. You just gotta find it first."

_What stairs?_

As Angelo pondered over this with a frown, he failed to notice Zoroark shooting nervous glances all around him, ears twitching periodically. He raised a hand to wipe off the sweat on his forehead...

"SCREE!"

"Shi-!"

A large body suddenly slammed into his chest in a whirling of feathers and curses. Angelo was sent tumbling back a few feet and landed on his back, the wind knocked out of his lungs. Red splotches bloomed on his shirt, and Angelo stared dumbly at the three diagonal scratches stretching across his forearm...

" _Run_ , idiot!" Zoroark screamed.

Another screech tore through the air, and Angelo's mind snapped back to reality, just in time to notice a ferocious-looking pidgeot in the act of diving towards him. He yelped and rolled away, narrowly avoiding its outstretched talons as it swooped up again. He scrambled to his feet.

A dark pulse of energy shot past its head. Zoroark swore. "Kid, keep it still!"

_Keep it what?!_  Angelo froze in terror when the pidgeot focused on him again. It was going after him again! He frantically looked around for something that could possibly protect him...

_A branch!_  It was about the length of his arm, and more importantly, looked sturdy enough to attack with. He didn't waste time thinking, he just snatched it up with his good arm and swung it around with all his might, just in time to catch its talons with it. They were locked in a stalemate for a few excruciating seconds: its wickedly sharp talons were mere inches away from his eyes, and his arm threatened to buckle under its strength.

_I can't hold on!_  he immediately thought, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Just when he thought his arm was about to give out, the pidgeot was suddenly blasted away and the branch ripped from his hand, and it fell onto the ground with a thud.

It didn't move anymore.

Angelo released the breath he hadn't realised he had been holding in.  _That was...really scary..._

"Hey, you okay?" Zoroark was already by his side looking him over. "Jeez, what a pain in the-"

Zoroark's eyes focused on him, and his words trailed off. "Uh, forget you heard anything. Anyway..."

He examined the scratches for a bit, and made an unconcerned noise, dropping his arm back down. "Eh, these don't look too deep. Or, you won't drop dead at least. Here, eat this and stick close to me."

Nothing about the blood in his shirt was "not too bad", but Angelo decided it wasn't a good time to bring it up when an oran berry was pressed into his hands.

Wait, oran berry? Angelo was mildly surprised that he could remember that too, as a common fact to boot. Was this a sign of his memories coming back? Or did he remember this all along? Weird...

He took a tentative nibble, then a bigger bite when he tasted the sweet flesh of it. Zoroark seemed to relax at that. "Come on, we have to get out of here fast," he said, grabbing his unscratched arm and pulling him along. Angelo opened his mouth, and he hastily added, "There's first aid at where we're going, so just keep quiet and walk!"

Angelo shut his mouth again. Zoroark was right. Unless he wanted to have a repeat of recent events, he shouldn't be holding Zoroark up so much, and he himself was banged up enough as it was.  _Just do as he says. Keep quiet. Keep walking. Try not to keel over._

By the time he had finished eating, he heard the exclamation of, "Oh thank god."

Angelo spotted the source of his relief: a set of stone stairs leading downwards. Looks like he wasn't hallucinating before. Not that this alternative was any better. "Hurry up, human," he hissed, giving a firm tug on his arm.

Angelo followed, the both of them carefully descending the stairs. All the while, Zoroark was muttering, "Please don't be there, please don't be there..."

Don't be there? Who was he talking about?

They emerged from the bottom of the stairs. Unlike before, the trees here were more sparse, scattered around them in a loose ring. Several colourful dots decorated the top, a sweet scent wafting down to them from above. Zoroark was scanning the area around them, face growing increasingly satisfied. "Good, looks like they didn't reach here yet. We just need to walk a little further, then we can bunk down for the night. Has to be somewhere nice and cosy..."

Angelo didn't bother answering. Wherever they went, as long as it was safe and pidgeot-free it was good by his book. He was thankful for the oran berry, of course; the bleeding was lessening and the ache in his chest had faded some, but he knew it wasn't going to be enough for the long run.

More time and walking passed, as they trekked their way out of the forest. Every noise and crunch made Angelo jump, and he half-expected every shadow to be another pidgeot to dive down from the tree tops. The complete opposite of Zoroark, who was the happiest he had been since he first met him. Angelo didn't know why; he couldn't hit the pidgeot without a child holding it still. He shouldn't be this relaxed!

Angelo was so preoccupied with watching out for his own safety, he didn't notice that the environment change until his foot struck a little pebble. He blinked. The towering trees were completely gone now, replaced by a bland, rocky terrain that stretched as far as he could see. Craggy formations were on either side, looking like silent, faceless golems. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could've sworn that a few of this rocks were moving...

Well, at least there shouldn't be any pidgeots here, right?

Right?

"There it is!"

Following Zoroark's claw, Angelo saw it: a little den in the side of the formation, partially hidden by some fallen rocks. "This should keep up warm for the night," he said, more to himself than to Angelo. Louder, he said, "Come on, let's hurry before your blood draws anyone to us. You're sticking out enough like a sore thumb as it is."

Angelo didn't know how serious Zoroark was about that, but he wasn't taking any chances. He quickened his pace, both of them hurrying to the den and ducking inside. It was rather small, and judging from the unmarked ground and unnerving silence, it had been deserted for quite some time. The ceiling barely brushed against the top of his head as he ducked in, as Zoroark muttered behind him, "I could've sworn it was bigger..."

"Are there any crazy Pokémon here?" Angelo asked worriedly, sinking down onto a rock slab.

"Crazy? Oh, you mean the rogue 'mons? Nah, they won't be here, they're usually only found in mystery dungeons. If someone attacks you while we're here, that means they're sane and would probably rip you throat out if they wanted to," he said casually, creeping closer to the back of the den, eyes darting around for any signs of life.

"What? Wait, wait! You're going too fast!" Mystery dungeon? Rogue Pokémon? What was he on about?

Zoroark rolled his eyes. " _Humans_ ," he said under his breath, before raising his voice, "I'll explain it to you later, if I feel like it. I need to prepare for tonight, before it gets too dark."

His words finally made Angelo realise that the sun was already sinking into the horizon, its orange rays sneaking into the den they were in and barely lighting it up. It was obvious that this wouldn't be the case soon. "Um... can  _I_  do something to help?" he asked.

"Stay out of my way." The curt reply made Angelo's hopeful expression droop. "I need to be careful out there, so there's no point dragging you around with me. Just stay here and rest, and don't come out to anyone else but me."

When Zoroark offered nothing beyond that, he leaned back with a huff. He hated that he was right. His legs were aching from the trek from the forest, and now that the adrenaline had worn off from the surprise attack, a stinging pain came from the scratches in bolts, and the sight of dried blood clinging onto his fingers made his stomach roil. At least the bleeding stopped. Unfortunately, there wasn't even a drop of water near them, he couldn't get rid of it.

_Stay here and rest, huh?_  he thought, watching Zoroark shoulder his bag on as he walked out of the den without a backwards glance.  _Rest... sounds really nice now..._

Stifling a yawn, Angelo curled up on the stoke slab. He would never in a million years thought of it as comfortable, but the moment he closed his eyes, a wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he gradually drifted off into a sound sleep.

=0=

Angelo woke up with a start.

He was lying flat on his back, staring up at the too close ceiling as he struggled to remember what was happening...

Oh yeah, he was sleeping. Had been. Mouth opening in a wide yawn, Angelo rolled onto his side, and he saw a piece of paper weighed down by an oran berry right in front of his face.

He stared at it for a solid minute, before realising who it could be from.  _Zoroark!_

The heavy fog hanging in his head was chased away by this thought, and he hastily sat up to read what must be a note.

It wasn't long before he discovered another problem as he picked it and the berry up, however: dusk had turned to night since when he had fallen asleep. He brought it close to his face, squinting his eyes through the darkness as he attempted to make out the words...

... Or footprints? Angelo rubbed his eyes under the blindfold and squinted at it again. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but the squiggles looked suspiciously like Pokémon footprints... or maybe it was just the result it messy handwriting?

"I'm back!" He hastily stowed the more away when Zoroark's head poked in. Angelo could barely see him against the dark blanket of night, even when he squinted really hard. Only the moon's rays partially lighting him allowed Angelo to see him. Must be nice to have that kind of camouflage... "Jeez, you really can sleep when you want to, huh?"

He casually strolled into the den with a bunch of twigs and branches in one paw, and a bowl of sloshing water in the other. Immediately, Angelo was painfully aware of his dry, cracked lips. The twig pile was carelessly dropped onto the ground, kicking up a little dust cloud that made him hack and wheeze, and he carefully set the bowl next to him. "Wash yourself off, you look like crap."

The last comment stung, but it wasn't enough to dissuade him from eagerly scooping up handfuls of water and scrubbing off the dried blood and sticky oran berry juice. He also let a little water run down his wounds to wash out dirt, suppressing a wince as the sting returned with a vengeance.

While he was doing that, Zoroark was busy brushing away stray leaves and kicking aside loose pebbles. Angelo wasn't really interested at first, but his curiosity soon grew when he didn't stop until a wide circle was clear of trash. "Wh...what are you doing?"

"Making a fire," was his mumbled response. Zoroark stopped and surveyed the area, nodding to himself. "This should be good enough."

Angelo frowned. Zoroark didn't seem interested in talking to him, he didn't want to be with him at all. The way he acted didn't exactly scream "I care about this random child!". The opposite, really. That struck him as weird, since despite all that, he was still helping him for some reason. What was Zoroark's motive? What was he trying to accomplish here?

Zoroark has been gathering some dirt into the centre of the circle, forming a little platform. He had been laser focused on his task this whole time, but the longer he stared, the more his ears seem to twitch, and he kept his eyes bored on Zoroark until something in him snapped.

"What?!" he snarled through gritted teeth.

Angelo flinched, but he wasn't going to let himself back down now. "... Why are you helping me?" he asked.

Oops, maybe he should've rephrased that a little. Zoroark's expression was a mixture of anger and bafflement. "What the hell? What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

He lifted his shoulder in a half-shrug. He already asked, why stop? "Why are you helping me?" Angelo repeated, voice barely above a whisper. "You haven't told me that yet."

"What, too hard to believe that I'm doing it out of the goodness of my heart?" Angelo didn't (dare to) respond, but the expression on his face said it all. Zoroark gave a loud snort. "Ouch. We just met, and you already think that little of me? Rich, coming out of a human."

He picked up the twig pile and began arranging it, rather haphazardly he noticed, on the dirt platform. "You being here is already going to rustle up the general public enough, if someone actually sees you-"

"What's so bad about that?" Angelo blurted out.

His paw stilled. " _Excuse_  you?"

Oh no. What did he say? "I-I mean, humans and Pokémon are always together, right? What's so str-strange about that? We always lived and worked together-"

"Oh come on, don't go playing dumb!" he scoffed. "You got here yourself, you must've realised how 'mons react to humans like you. Or, well, with someone else," he amended after giving him a second look. "But my point still stands!"

Angelo stared at him in stunned silence. A certain phrase kept replaying itself in his head, something that made his heart sink to the pits despite not completely understanding it. "Wh-What do you mean by "humans like me"? You make it sound like I'm the only human here." He gave a nervous laugh, more to soothe his own nerves than anything.

But Zoroark didn't laugh. Tossing the last twig into the pile, he twisted around to shoot him a toothy grin that he didn't like. "Wait. Wait. Wait wait wait. Don't tell me you  _don't_  know?" he asked, voice full of amusement and incredulity.

Angelo's resolve faltered slightly. "Don't... Don't know what?"

"That," Zoroark leaned forward, head on his paws and smirk stretched from ear to ear, "humans don't live here."

He clearly dragged that out fishing for a reaction, eyes scanning Angelo's face. And it worked beautifully. "Huh?! Humans-humans-hu-"

Multiple emotions ran though Angelo's mind: shock, denial, anger, confusion. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly. He struggled to find words that could express the whirlwinds of screaming thoughts rampaging inside him.  _What-That's- There's no way! He's lying! He has to be!_  A land with no humans. Only Pokémon. A land with no one that can help him except for the jerk laughing at him now.

"Jeez, chill out, will you?" Zoroark snickered, clearly ignorant of the internal crisis Angelo was having right now all thanks to him. He gave the silent boy a friendly shove on the shoulder. "It's not as bad as it sounds, okay? I didn't say humans are  _completely_  non-existent. They're just non-existent  _here_."

Angelo shoved the paw off and turned away from him.

Zoroark just snickered, and he returned to his half-made campfire, digging through his bag. "Come on, don't be such a downer, human. I already said that I'll take you back, didn't I?"

"... My name's not 'human'."

"What was that?"

"My name's not ' _human_ '," he sniffed. It was stupid, harping on something so trivial. But it was still a welcome distraction from the emotional bomb Zoroark just dropped on him.

He rolled his eyes. "Well,  _fine_ , then what  _is_  your name?" he said, voice absolutely dripping with disinterest.

"... Angelo."

"Angelo, huh? Weird name."

His face turned sullen. "Then what about you?" he shot back.

"Me?" Zoroark tilted his head in thought. "Uh, you can call me Zoroark, I guess."

"Zoroark?" he echoed. "That's your name?" Well, he was kinda already referring to him by that name all this time, so it wasn't a big deal, but really?

"That's right." A few more muttered words, and Zoroark straightened. "I don't have anymore blast seeds? Ah well, doesn't matter."

He looked like he was bracing himself something, but then Zoroark hesitated. "Uh, you might want to stand back for this."

For what? Angelo complied, scooting back a few inches while keeping his eyes trained on Zoroark. It was soon clear what he was trying to accomplish: he took a deep breath, and a frighteningly huge column of fire spewed from his mouth and hit the twig pile. He pressed his back against the wall, as far from it as possible. From the intensity of the flames, he had expected the pile to just straight up disintegrate, but the previously dead pile was turned into a pleasantly crackling fire. "W-woah..." he breathed out.

It didn't go unnoticed. "Impressive, huh?" he preened, completely misunderstanding his reaction. "You're welcome, by the way."

Zoroark sat down next to it, rifling through his bag. Angelo stayed where he was. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. "You gonna come here or what?"

Angelo gave a start. He hastily hobbled over, easing himself onto the ground next to him. "Jeez, you really got beat up, huh?" Zoroark started casually, picking up a yellow seed and tossing it back into the bag. "You still look like crap, by the way."

He pouted. "I don't look that bad..."

"So, you gonna tell me how this happened?" he continued, ignoring Angelo.

"... Um, you know. Those crazy Pokémon."

"Crazy Pokémon?" Zoroark repeated. "That's it?"

He nodded rapidly. It was an impulse decision, keeping his amnesia a secret, but he had a nagging feeling that carelessly sharing this information would turn out bad for him. Maybe. Better safe than sorry, at least, until he could find someone that recognised him...

Zoroark obviously still had some doubts, but thankfully, he dropped it. Unfortunately, it was for another question. "So what's with the blindfold?"

Oh. That. "It, um... helps me see?"

Angelo immediately realised how stupid it sounded coming out of his mouth. The look he was giving him didn't help. "The blindfold. Helps you see."

"... Yes?" he said meekly.

"The blindfold helps you see," he repeated, ignoring him. "The blindfold helps you see? The blindfold... I don't flipping believe it."

Then before he could react, Zoroark reached over and pulled it off in one swift motion. Everything vanished from his eyes and he yelped out loud. "Hey, give that back!"

He lunged forward in Zoroark's general direction, hands sweeping widely for his blindfold. Arms suddenly wrapped around him and yanked him backwards, and Angelo squawked and twisted around, blindly smacking whatever he could touch. "Hey, stop squirming, you- Gah! That was my ribs!"

The blindfold was wrestled back over his eyes. His vision suddenly came flooding back, and Angelo blinked a few times as his mind was trying to process what just happened. He somehow ended up on his back with Zoroark next to him, breathing heavily. He was unceremoniously shoved aside as Zoroark brushed himself off, glaring at him. "Well,  _sorry_  for being curious," he muttered under his breath, glaring at him as he rubbed his side ruefully.

Angelo adjusted the blindfold (can he really call it a blindfold at this point? He didn't know). It was so jarring, having his sight so vulnerable to being taken away in one swipe, like how Zoroark so generously demonstrated. But he just had to get used to it...

Zoroark was clutching his abdomen, wincing in pain. "Did you really have to do that?" he groaned. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Easy for you to say," he groused.

"What? I wasn't! You were going into the fire, for god's sake! You're really blind without that, aren't you!"

Both of them fell into a grumpy silence, Zoroark nursing (non-existent) injuries and Angelo plucking at the fabric. Without his constant talking, the crackle of burning wood had turned oddly tranquil and soothing. The warmth from the fire chased away any chill the night air induced, light dancing across the walls of the den. Shadows bent in weird, grotesque shapes that he found mesmerising, because there was absolutely nothing to do except to talk to the jerk and he didn't want to do that yet.

His mind wandered again. It drifted back to the moment he received an oran berry. He could instantly identify what it was... the same thing happened with Zoroark and the crazy pidgeot, Angelo realised. He could immediately tell what species they were, just as easily as he could tell that the sky was blue. Even the concept of humans and Pokemon seemed to be the norm to him. His heart lightened at that thought; was his memories really returning...?

He tried to recall... and slumped. It was useless, he could still remember nothing about himself. But frustratingly, he could still identify the various Pokémon he saw today: the yellow-green lump that was probably a sewaddle, the flying Pokémon that seemed to be pidgeys, the geodudes they woke up on the way ...

But what was the point of this useless trivia if he couldn't even remember anything else?! Angelo bit his lip, choking back a yell of frustration.

He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Zoroark moving until something was nudged into his hands. Angelo looked down, and there was another oran berry sitting in his hands.

"Eat that and hit the hay," Zoroark said shortly, avoiding his gaze. "We'll be up and going first thing tomorrow, so you'll need the energy."

"... Thank you," Angelo mumbled, biting into the berry.

Zoroark muttered something back, probably something not too pleasant, as he scarfed down an apple. Eventually, the uncomfortable silence lightened into something... not companiable, but it got Angelo contented enough to curl up next to the fire and soak up the warmth of the fire. With nothing occupying his attention, his mind soon drifted to what they were going to do tomorrow. Zoroark brought him to the "nearest" town supposedly with humans, and then... what? He would go around asking other people, "Hey, do you know me?" He'd get tossed into the loony bin faster than he can say "help!".

Would there be a police force there? Or some sort of authority figure? There has to be... maybe he could get their help? Even a little prod in the direction would be wonderful.

_Maybe this will turn out to be a bad dream_ , he thought glumly.

Angelo polished off the berry and washed up at the basin. He returned to his spot next to the fire, back towards the wall. He stared at the dancing flames slowly eating through the bits of wood. He stared... he stared... and his eyelids started to droop, and his mouth opened in a wide yawn.

"Hurry up and go to sleep," came Zoroark's muffled voice.

For once, he wasn't going to argue with that. Gradually, his breathing slowed, his eyelids drifted close, and he soon lost himself to deep, restful sleep...

=0=

A/N: So how was it? The most I've written for a PMD first chapter, and it's just going to get bigger over time. Better or worse? Not too sure, to be honest, but I'd love to hear your opinions! See you next time!

Edit: Jesus Christ so many typos. Sorry about that everybody.


	2. Chapter 2: Roadblock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Angelo and Zoroark spends quality time together, until shit hits the fan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hello, hello! I apologise for taking so long to put this chapter out, but I wanted to make sure this could be the best it could be before posting it. But I didn't do this on my own; I had help from "Team Ion" and "Shadow of Antioch" in the form of looking over the chapter and correcting my mistakes. The reviews left for the first chapter also helped immensely. They are very lovely people, and you can find them under those usernames. Both have fantastic PMD stories, please go over and give them support!
> 
> With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
> 
> FINAL WORD COUNT: 12786

 

Chapter 2: Roadblock

The sun rose on Nyral Island, showering golden rays on everything it could touch. A gentle breeze brushed against the sea of luscious tree tops, causing the slender branches to sway hypnotically and awaken several bird Pokémon residing there. Similarly, on the ground, the island's inhabitants were stirring from a night of restful slumber. Pokémon hollered morning greetings to each other as they left their wooden houses, whether on their way to work or school. Shopkeepers opened for business, children stampeded across the town centre as they prepared to venture through a mystery dungeon leading to their school, and in the Nyral Guild, it was just another day of utter chaos.

To an outsider, the exterior would be picture of serenity, but the chaos and noise level inside could have been mistaken for a tauros stampede: various teams that didn't have the foresight to prepare the night before were dashing left and right, jostling each other in an effort to be the first to finish preparing and head off, as a model exploration should. Feet were stepped on, bodies were bumped into, tails were crushed underfoot. Greetings, apologies and curses were slung around equally freely.

Amidst all of the chaos, a zoroark with a red scarf wrapped around his neck was striding towards the guild bulletin boards with purpose, a determined scowl on his face. He was hurrying down from the second floor to the first, carefully making sure nobody stepped (accidentally or not) on his scarf on the way. Nobody paid much attention to him, aside from a few wary glances, and he didn't stop for anyone either. He didn't have time to. He only had one person in mind: Chester.

In his clenched paw was a job request from Lester, an aged lapras that everyone knew well and the reason he was seeking out Chester in the first place. The request itself wouldn't normally be noteworthy on its own, but his eyes ran across a single line in the request that made him pause.

" _... we had been attacked by a human and his Pokémon out of the blue, but before we could apprehend them they had escaped..."_

Attacked by a  _human_. Roark could hardly believe his eyes when he initially read the statement. A species that had been wiped out in a war centuries ago, humans were only spoken about in myths and legends, like when the humans' relics were concerned. Nobody could really agree on  _how_  humans were wiped out, or whether humans really were wiped out in the first place, and frankly, Roark didn't care. All that mattered was that humans were gone. Humans were the boogeyman of children stories who captured Pokémon for their own benefit, who treated them as the inferior beings, who would stop at nothing until they were the ones in control again.

... The last point may have been a tad melodramatic, but it was also the belief most Pokémon held, even if the subject of their beliefs didn't exist anymore.

Occasionally, rumors were passed around like they were gospel, that a certain 'mon knew of a secret human organisation, or an actual human had been sighted. Roark didn't believe any of that nonsense. A person can say anything, but it only has weight if they could provide proof to back it up.

So why did he immediately believe Lester?

Maybe "believe" was the wrong word. Perhaps it was because of his reputation as an explorer. Once the leader the exploration team, Team Hurricane, Lester had long retired from exploring and had since dedicated his services to ferrying Pokémon to other islands and rescuing those in trouble in the sea. Once in a while, he would suddenly leave to go on a long voyage and bring back entertaining tales to tell (mainly to the children). Lester was able to travel farther into unknown territories than any explorer he knew, so it was reasoned that if any Pokémon were to know if something existed, it would be Lester.

In essence, Roark had a little leeway in him to give Lester the benefit of a doubt.

Reaching the first floor, he finally found Chester. The chesnaught was hanging around the bulletin boards and greeting every passing team with unnatural gusto, just as expected. The goofy grin he had on his face only widened when Chester's eyes laid on him. "G'morning, Roark!" he said jovially, sweeping him into a hug and nearly squeezing the life out of him. Roark endured it with a familiar sense of resignation, and he was soon rewarded with freedom from his crushing grip. "How's it been? It's been a while since we last talked, hasn't it?"

_It's only been two days_ , Roark thought, discreetly rubbing his arm. But it was hard to come by such unabashedly joyful Pokémon these days, so he held in his complaints for now. "Yes, it has. Unfortunately, I don't have time for small talk," he said with an apologetic tone. "May I know where I can find Shif?"

Chester's smile faded upon hearing the question. "Oh, him? I don't think it's a good time right now," he whispered, obviously trying to keep passing teams from overhearing. "He's not too happy after what happened last night, and he's been in a really bad mood this morning after Dean made fun of him..."

_More like needlessly antagonise him._  If Roark had let him, Chester could occupy his entire morning with the... "intense rivalry" between the two most hot-headed Pokémon he knew. But he wasn't here for their little drama. "Chester," he interrupted, fully catching his attention, " _where can I find him?_ "

His face fell, and he chewed his lip. "... He's in his room, third floor," Chester said after a long pause.

"Thank you, Chester." Without waiting for his reply, Roark turned heel and backtracked to the stairwell, leaving poor Chester blinking in confusion at the abrupt exit.

"Roark, no! Hold on!"

Oh no, Chester was trying to catch up to him. Roark had been hoping that the cluster of Pokémon between him and Chester would slow him down, but it appeared that Chester's reputation for being a living bowling ball was well-established by this point: the cluster was parting like grass in an effort to avoid his thundering steps as he rushed to where he was.

Roark briefly debated throwing on an illusion to hide himself, and therefore hide from any uncomfortable questions Chester could have had. But what if Dean somehow found out about this incident from Chester? And unlike him, Dean could find him under illusion  _far_  quicker, so hiding from  _him_  was a near impossibility. It seemed like it was better to get this over with now rather than later. So it was with a sigh that he stopped in his tracks, waiting for Chester to catch up.

"Roark, why are you looking for Shif?" he asked, catching up to him after apologising profusely to a roselia he had accidentally shoved aside. "Because if it isn't that important, maybe it could wait for, I don't know, a few hours or so-"

"It  _is_  important." He didn't bother slowing down for Chester, which left him tailing behind Roark at an uncomfortably close distance. "I'm sorry, but Shif has to learn how to put his personal feelings aside when it comes to guild business."

Chester continued to meekly put forth reasons of why he shouldn't bother Shif as they passed the second floor and arrived at the third, but Roark ignored all of them as he came to a halt in front of a door labelled "Team Dark Seeds". Chester didn't make a move to stop him, but Roark could sense him hovering over his shoulder, arms held up as though to pull him away at a moment's notice. Honestly, he was acting like Roark was handling a bomb instead of another team leader.

He rapped sharply once, twice. Not a second later, the door swung open, revealing a vexed-looking shiftry. His countenance certainly did not improve upon seeing just who he opened the door to. "What do  _you_  want?" he spat. "Here to mock me too, bastard?"

" _Shif!_ " Chester said, aghast.

Roark couldn't say that he was as surprised, even if this reaction was rather extreme by Shif's standards. It was no secret that Shif...  _disliked_  him for multiple reasons (which he made clear many times). He himself would be lying if he said that the feeling wasn't mutual.  _However_ , he at least had the decency to put it aside when it can to handling a job. "I came to ask you about that human-"

"Oh,  _sure_. You came all the way here to ask about the  _human_. Yeah right," he scoffed, already half-turning from them and closing the door. "I don't have time to waste on you two, so scram!"

"Shif, please wait." Chester's voice made the creaking door pause. "He really came to ask you about your mission yesterday. At least hear him out, will you? I promise we won't take too much of your time."

Chester's eyes added a silent "isn't that right?" as he gave Roark a pointed look. He had no reason to worry though, Roark didn't intend to stay any longer than he had to. "He's right. I merely came to ask about this human you caught sight of. Once I get my answer, then I'll take my leave."

Shif still seemed to be appraising his words. " _Please_ , Shif?" Chester said, tone beseeching.

The scowl on his face lightened ever so slightly at that, Roark noticed. But it didn't last. "Tch, fine. Just this once!"

He stomped over to his bag, fishing out a map. "You probably already heard last night, but I was chasing after an outlaw in Treacherous Woods. I think it was about late afternoon when it happened. Me and my boys were running after him - and we nearly caught up to him!- and we lost sight of him for a little while, but we soon found him, and he was talking to a  _human_. It looked pretty tiny from where we were," he added as an afterthought.

The temptation to interrupt Shif and get him back on track was a strong one, but Roark knew that would sour his mood, and he still had not gotten what he came here for.

"They ran down the stairs before I could catch up to them, but I'm sure- No, there  _was_  definitely a human with that outlaw," Shif continued, jabbing his leaves at a point on the map, somewhere next to Treacherous Woods.

Roark held up a paw when he sensed Chester opening his mouth. "Is that all? Nothing else?" he pressed.

Shif's brow furrowed in thought. "Hmm... He wasn't at the end of the dungeon when we reached there. Lief  _did_  find a couple of blood splatters here and there in the grass, but that could've been anyone's blood," he said dismissively.

_Like a human that cannot fight_ , Roark thought. The gears in his head were turning, and the pieces were starting to fall in place. There was no concrete proof yet, but he had an inkling as to the outlaw's destination. "Do you know which direction they were headed at?"

"Erm... the blood trail was headed straight up north, so I would say it's... towards Rockfall Canyon."

Towards Rockfall Canyon? That was all the proof he needed. "Thank you for the information, Shif. That was all I needed to know."

He stepped around the keenly listening chesnaught, and Shif yelled after him as he headed down the corridor, "Hey! What are you going to do with that information! Does it have to do with the outlaw?"

Roark paused. "... Something like that," was his cryptic response. Then without waiting for a response, he began to walk away briskly.

After mumbling a promise to catch up with Shif, Chester hurried after him until they were walking side-by-side, much to the annoyance of every other team walking past them. "What was that all about?" Now that the "Shif blowing up in a fit of rage" danger had passed, his voice was filled with more curiosity than worry. "Why were you asking so much about this human? Don't tell me you actually believe that..."

"You don't believe Shif?" Roark asked abruptly.

As expected, Chester spluttered at that accusation. Roark wasn't about to let Chester know of his suspicions, lest he made himself into a laughing stock alongside Shif. Oh, Chester would be too nice to spread it, but he was just as terrible at lying as he was at saying 'no' to others. No doubt Dean would bully it out of him the moment he caught wind of this. "I-it's not like that! Shif is a trustworthy Pokémon, he wouldn't lie about this kind of thing! It's just..." He sighed, rubbing his arm self-consciously. "Humans are just myths, aren't they? Just thinking about it, it doesn't make sense! They've already died out so many centuries ago, nobody's seen even a hair of one, and then Shif suddenly finds one running amuck? It... well, Shif wouldn't lie about such a thing," he amended. "But someone could've been pulling a trick on him. Maybe an astral projection from a psychic?"

"No, that's referring to an out-of-body experience," Roark corrected. "You are thinking of an illusion."

"Well, regardless, that doesn't mean humans really exist. The only way here is by sea travel, Lester and his friends would have said something!"

The paw holding the request tightened. Despite Lester's age, he was perfectly capable of defending himself, and that was not taking his team into account. To resort to sending a plea for help... "Please excuse me," he said, interrupting Chester's rambling, "but I have to go now."

"Roark? What's the matter?"

"It's nothing, just a mission," Roark assured him.

"Wait-"

Roark quickly made his exit before Chester could get a word in. Chester was left standing alone, a forlorn expression on his face and as an obstruction in the hallway, much to other teams' consternation as they skirted around him.

_I'll have to apologise to him later..._

=0=

What had Zoroark gotten himself into?

God, yesterday had been such a disaster. He was tempted to pin everything on the human he found, but... he had to admit that things were already going wrong before their fateful encounter. It had been  _those_  three asshats that started it. What was their name again? Team Harp Reeds or something like that...

It should've been easy to slip past them! And he  _did_ , for a few minutes he had lost sight of them. But he just  _had_  to underestimate them. He forgot that under all that bluster, the shiftry was still a competent leader in his own right. When coupled with his growing complacency from having a winning streak these past few days, and he had decided to let his guard down.

To make matters worse,  _that_  was when he had stumbled across the human.

In hindsight, Zoroark should've made a run for it there and then. But he had gotten so curious about the human that he went to take a closer look, and, well...

It was all downhill for him from then on.

Of course. It was just his shitty luck in play. Everybody always went on about there was  _no way_  humans were  _real_ , they were  _all_  killed off in a big war nobody cares about now. Well, the human that was clearly in front of him would like to call bullshit on that.

He hadn't even planned on taking him along! After taking in the fact, Zoroark had been prepared to ditch the human and run before Team Harp Reeds caught up to him. The human tried to follow, but enough snip and snarl was enough to convince him to stay put. The human could've even been a distraction for the rescue team!

However, Zoroark made the mistake of looking back.

The human just looked so...  _pathetic_ , that it made even his heart lurch. He had stood there shivering and giving him this betrayed expression, even with that stupid blindfold covering half of his face. The colourful bruises dotting his uncovered arms and legs just added to the pure misery the human was radiating. Zoroark had tried to squash his growing pity and walk away, but something made his legs lock in place.

_I'm am not a babysitter!_  he had screamed to himself.  _I shouldn't be doing this!_

He committed his second mistake then: looking at the human right in his covered eyes. One look was all it took for the last bit of his resolve to crumble like dust, and Zoroark realised that there was no way he could leave a little kid behind.

He'd probably start kicking himself over this soon enough, but the trip hadn't been too bad, all things considered. Sure, the human got a  _little_  roughed up by a rogue, but he already had so many bruises, a little scratch like that wouldn't stand out at all. Hopefully, the incident would stick in his memories and he'd be smarter about the next rogue (a stick? Really? Humans really  _were_  useless).

Other than that little hiccup, the rest of the trip had been smooth sailing. The human (Yeah, no way in hell was Zoroark going to call him that name) even stayed put in the den after seeing the note, and hadn't tried any funny business when his back was turned. Zoroark couldn't remember where he had heard it from, but he could've sworn that humans were supposed to be more... aggressive.  _Maybe this one's broken,_  he had half-jokingly thought.

But obviously, because Arceus apparently had something against him, this couldn't last. Just when Zoroark thought he was beginning to tolerate the human's presence, he had woken up to find the human had, sometime in the middle of the night, gotten up and curled up next to him, snuggling into his mane with a smile on his face.

His.

_Clean_.

Mane.

His mind had immediately flew to all the grime and dirt the human must have accumulated over the course of a day - not to mention the blood in his shirt, despite the human's best efforts to wash it out - and how much of that was trapped in his voluminous mane of fur. That crawling feeling he usually reserved for bugs had hit him full force, and he barely managed to swallow down a scream.

After too many hissed threats and shoves, Zoroark had finally managed to fully get him off, rolling him a distance away for good measure. The human pest didn't so much as stir. He had murmured something in his sleep and rolled over on his side.

As much as he wanted to make him pay and brush out the muck, Zoroark had other important stuff to focus on, mainly his dwindling supplies. He still had a fair number of seeds, but his oran berries were starting to run low (no thanks to a certain someone). He had to go dungeon-diving in order to stock up, and he begrudging also decided to bring back fresh water before the human started whining ( _I need it more_ , he had thought furiously).

And that was what he had spent nearly two hours doing: making about three consecutive trips through nearby dungeons and looting every room and clearing he came across. The Pokémon here were a tad more hard-hitting than the ones near towns, but it wasn't anything  _he_  couldn't solve. It wasn't long before he filled his bag to the max, and on the way back to the den, he made a point to stop by a nearby stream to scoop up some fresh water. Balancing a bowl of water in one hand and gripping onto a blast seed in the other, he made his way back to the den.

It felt good to run around on his own again, even if it was only for a few hours. Not having to waste his time defending a useless, hairless lump...

The image of his tiny frame curled up on a slab flashed in his head, and Zoroark irritably shoved it out of his head. He was  _not_  getting attached to a defence less lump that couldn't even get out of a mystery dungeon without getting his can kicked ten ways from Sunday, he told himself firmly. He was just getting him out of the way so that the news of a human wouldn't spread and make things more difficult for  _him_. That was  _it_.

His paw clenched.

Thank god nobody had seen the human, not even those three idiots. If they  _had_ , well... he could only hope that they'll just chalk him up to an illusion he made.

With those thoughts eating him up, Zoroark found himself back quicker than expected, and he dropped the illusion the moment he stepped into the den. But the human wasn't up and staring off into space like he had thought he would. Nope, he was still in that half-curled position he was left in when Zoroark had shoved him off ( _I_   _probably should've moved him back,_  he thought). The note he had left behind was still carelessly tucked under an untouched oran berry. Honestly, he only left that note behind for the sake of doing it; he didn't think that the human would dare to go out anyway. There was nothing but wilderness and mystery dungeons absolutely crawling with anything that fell under the category of "predator". Where  _could_  he go?

Zoroark dropped the stuff he was holding onto and turned to the human. He was showing no outward reaction whatsoever, despite his rather noisy entrance. Was he really that deep asleep? "Hey, human. Wake up."

Zoroark gently nudged his back with a foot. No response. " _Hey_ , I'm talking to you. Wake up!" He gave a harder shove, something he was sure that the human would feel.

Still no response.

He scowled.  _Freaking humans... Mess with 'em a little and they get all huffy._

Unless... A horrible thought occured to him. He'd been feeding him nothing but oran berries, but everyone and their mother knew those won't magically heal injuries overnight, especially not ones as severe as the human's technicolor display. They still needed actual medical attention. And not to mention that he had neglected to wrap up the scratches, since... well, it was such a small wound, he didn't think that it warranted any more attention than necessary. Zoroark had assumed that he was just pretending to spite him, but what if...

What if he had died from infection overnight?

Disgust and concern raged within him for a few moments, before the latter won out. Faster than he cared to admit, he rushed to the kid's side and dropped to his knees, pressing a claw to the side of his neck. He waited with bated breath, heart pumping fast...

... and he nearly sighed as he felt a pulse beneath his claw. So the kid  _was_  sleeping after all.

But the minute relief was quickly overcame by exasperation. So it wasn't enough that the human sucked up all of his oran berries, he had to make Zoroark fret like... like some  _mother hen_? He couldn't believe he got so worked up by some human pest, as he let out an embarrassed huff that only he could hear.

Zoroark briefly toyed with the idea of waking him up with a slap on the head to get back at him, but having him scream in such an enclosed place was suicidal. Besides, his ribs were still tender from last night (this human had obnoxiously pointy elbows).

Looking around, his eyes fell on the untouched water bowl. He glanced at the human, and back the bowl, and it hit him. He needed the human awake, and also a way to make him less susceptible to the rogues... An idea began to take root in his head.

Grinning from ear to ear, he grabbed the bowl and crept backwards away from the sleeping human, holding it at arm's length...

And promptly dumped it on his head.

It worked like a beauty; the human woke up coughing and spluttering, any potential screams being choked down by the water in his nose. Zoroark hung back to enjoy the show, and avoid the flailing arms, as the human tried to fend off an imaginary enemy. Eventually, the human stopped thrashing about like a wounded gogoat when he realised that there was no one there, only the Zoroark stifling his laughter behind him. He whirled around, spraying drops of water everywhere.

"Morning," Zoroark greeted with a suppressed grin.

"Did you do this?" he squealed, shaking himself off like a lillipup would. "Why?!"

"Oh, stop complaining. You should be grateful that I gave you a free bath." And hopefully he smelled less too, so that he wouldn't draw the local rogues to him the next time they went into a dungeon. Only incredible luck had kept the rogues away from them yesterday.

The human tore off that dumb blindfold of his, wringing it dry with more force than necessary. "I don't smell," he mumbled rebelliously.

"Oh yeah? Wanna tell that to the rogue from yesterday?"

The human shot a dirty look in his general direction, but he didn't argue anymore as he replaced the soggy blindfold back onto his head. At least he was learning when to keep his mouth shut.

Now that he had stopped talking, Zoroark could hear the odd sound of a pebble skidding across the ground and a breeze whistling through cracks in the walls. He peered outside, but there was no one in sight, not that that meant anything in these parts. Who knew how much of that was caused by other Pokémon? And in such a small space, if something were to attack them... They shouldn't be staying here any longer.

He snatched up the berry and note and shoved them both into the human's hands. "We've wasted enough time already. Come on, we have to get going," he said, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

He accepted both without argument, face turning into an almost mollified expression as his indignation melted. "... Thank you," he whispered.

"You better be," he snorted. After all those hours he spent dungeon-diving, a little gratitude was the least he deserved. He kicked the dead wood pile behind several rocks, scuffing the ground until all that remained was a streak of black here and there. He tucked the bowl into a tiny crevice, after a moment's consideration. He could always get a new one later, and they didn't need it at where they were going.

The human was still standing there by the time Zoroark was done covering up their tracks, twisting the note in his hands and staring at him with this look that just... weirded him out. But that wasn't the creepiest thing about him. Zoroark could still remember those milky white eyes staring back blankly before he pulled the blindfold back on...

The creeping sensation came back full force, and he shuddered.  _The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can get rid of the human,_  he reminded himself.

Zoroark cleared his throat, breaking the human out of his statue-like stance. "Didn't you hear me, human? We're leaving now." He injected enough brusqueness to cover up the hitch in his voice.  _Ha, score one for me._

"Sorry!" The human scrambled to his side, Zoroark hoped that he didn't have to worry the human doing something stupid, like wandering into a Monster House.

Now, for that illusion. Zoroark had thought about making them invisible, but a problem immediately arose: it wouldn't be that bad if it was just him, but the human could barely keep up with him without Zoroark dragging him everywhere. What if the human couldn't move out of the way before someone bumped into him? No no no, that wouldn't do. But it had to be something simple, or the illusion might break if he lost focus...

Aha!

One thought, and their appearances changed to resemble that of a mienshao and a mienfoo. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner? It was perfect, no one ever suspected fighting-types of any wrongdoing!

With their perfect disguises on, they exited the den and Zoroark led the mienfoo past the numerous, completely boring craggy formations and to an inconspicuous crevice in the side of a particularly imposing hill. It was just wide enough for someone his size to squeeze through, as he had discovered the night before. Zoroark hadn't thoroughly scouted out the dungeon, but a quick consultation with his map told him that this was the fastest path they could take. There were other paths that weren't infested with rogues, but what the human didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Zoroark scanned the entire hillside, scouring it for any potential enemies. The mienfoo was panting heavily, hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. Ears flicking in irritation, Zoroark did his best to block it out, taking in the scenery from the edge of the rocky plateau they stood on.

Rockfall Canyon. That was what the dungeon was dubbed as, for obvious reasons. A little more hidden than Treacherous Forest, Zoroark found the rogues there to be a little tougher than the forest critters, but he didn't mind. Anything that wasn't a bug was A-OK in his book.

He glanced back at the mienfoo. He was taking in the scenery around them (which was just rock) instead of staring at the ground all the time (which was just rock with tufts of grass tucked in between). Honestly, he didn't blame him. If it were any other situation, Zoroark would've stood there admiring the sheer volume of land, with crystal clear streams cutting through it, for hours on end. There wasn't much more to look at, though. It was nothing but rocks piled on rocks, in various shades of grey and brown. There was nothing connecting the two cliffs to each other, and no shelter besides the occasional den for miles, leaving any traveller vulnerable to attacks.

But now that Zoroark took a good look, he actually looked a lot better than he did the day before. With his injuries reflected on the illusion, his bruises had faded some, the scratches on his arm were already scabbing, and his posture had straightened slightly instead of being hunched all the time, like he was going to perform Rollout at any moment. The oran berries seemed to be finally taking effect, though not as quickly as he had thought they would. Were berries not as effective on humans?  _Oh well, sucks to be them._

"What's this place?"

The corners of his mouth ticked down when a tiny voice interrupted his thoughts. "It's a mystery dungeon, hu-  _kid_ ," he corrected himself. Phew, that was a close call. That would've been bad if anyone had heard him. "Remember that pidgeot from yesterday?"

The mienfoo's face paled at that.

"Yeah, there's gonna be a lot more of that in there, so  _stay close_  or we'll get separated." Zoroark didn't have to say any more, the mienfoo was rapidly nodding his head before he could even finish his sentence. Good. He didn't want to have to waste resources trying to save him from a geodude.

The mienfoo grabbing onto his paw (ugh), they turned sideways and began sidestepping through the crevice. Once the "mienfoo" was through, the crevice vanished and the environment them changed drastically. The outside at least had wide, open spaces with a couple of streams cutting through it, and the sun's rays were partially blocked by the cloud cover. In here, there wasn't a single cloud as far as the eye could see, allowing the sun to mercilessly send waves of heat down their backs (his back was already starting to itch from the heat). The path had constricted significantly as the walls on either side had jumped closer to them in the space of one second, to the point that there was only enough room for a single-line formation, and the walls stretched towards the sky as far as he could see. It was a claustrophobe's worst nightmare. Thankfully, the dungeon itself shouldn't have been too long. The mienfoo...

The mienfoo had already let go of his hand, and he was huddling as close as he could to Zoroark without actually touching him. He was practically sticking his face into his mane ( _ugh_ ). He didn't seem to be any more nervous than before, so it must not have been claustrophobia making him shiver. Well, whatever. As long as he could keep moving, it wasn't Zoroark's problem.

They cautiously traversed through the narrow paths of Rockfall Canyon. Zoroark glanced around them, actively searching for any spots that could hide a rogue looking for a quick bite. But the real danger was hanging above their heads: the nooks and crannies littered across the walls. They were chuck full of sleeping Pokémon,  _especially_  geodudes. He currently heard nothing from up top, but if one of them rolled off the edge and he didn't move in time... He shuddered at the thought.

A few minutes and another turn later, Zoroark flinched in surprise when cubone suddenly leapt out into their faces with a war cry. The mienfoo yelped and jumped backwards, away from the cubone as it bared its teeth in a ferocious display, whipping its bone club wildly towards Zoroark's-

He smacked it aside with a bored expression.

The cubone bounced off the surface of the wall and onto the ground, no longer moving. After staring at it for a moment longer to make sure it was really down, he turned to the mienfoo, who was gaping at him like a magikarp. "You can be a real drama queen when you wanna be, huh? Get over here."

A blush creeping onto his face, the mienfoo scrambled back to him. They moved past the unmoving cubone, Zoroark ignoring it and the mienfoo sneaking a glance at it. A few more similar encounters happened over the course of their finding the stairs, but with various other Pokémon: geodudes, roggenrola, arons... There were a lot of arons especially, so many that he could feel his arms starting to bruise from getting tackled so many times.

With each rogue he swatted aside, the mienfoo's body language became less and less stiff, even peeking around his back at one point to see him unleash a Dark Pulse. His expression was gradually changing too: the initial trepidation had given way to a look that wasn't quite awe, nor admiration. It was simply... less cautious. He didn't dare to stray far though, as Zoroark could feel the mienfoo's arm constantly brushing against his mane.

"Wow!" the mienfoo uttered at one point, as he brought down a graveler. His mouth quirked up to a grin without much thought, although Zoroark made sure to hide it when the mienfoo looked his way.

_What am I doing?_  He was better than this! Shaking off the brief traces of contentment, he stalked further into the dungeon with an extra fierce scowl, effectively silencing anymore exclamations of awe from him.

With all the walking they did on this floor, it was only a matter of time before they found a set of staircase in a particularly spacious clearing. The illusion was working like magic, none of the rogues had shown more aggression than usual, and they didn't target the human once. Just as expected, coming from an illusion made by  _him_.

Descending to the next floor, however, the Pokémon began to grow a little more restless. A geodude rolled off its resting place, barely missing his head by an inch. A shieldon charged past him and towards the mienfoo, going down only after getting a Flamethrower to the back. Another cubone screeched and charged at them, nearly taking his head off with a Bone Rush.

After ten more encounters like that, Zoroark realised that it was the meagre space that was bothering him to no end; he had absolutely no space to pull off his stronger moves, and he could barely avoid the rogues' attacks without scraping himself against the jagged walls. That was why the moment he spotted an open area to his right, he grabbed the mienfoo's hand without thinking and pulled him towards it.

Well,  _that_  turned out to be a horrible idea. As it turned out, madibuzzes hated it when trespassers encroached on their territory, and they hated it even more when said trespassers made noises while encroaching in their territory.

The resultant fight lost Zoroark a good tuft of his fur, but he managed to get payback via a Blast Seed-Flamethrower combo. He hadn't had time to stick around and admire his handiwork however, as the ruckus had drawn more than a few rogues to their location. Hoping that the roasted bird would be enough of a distraction, Zoroark took the human and ran like a noibat out of hell.

By the time the feral growls and snaps have died down from the distance, Zoroark felt comfortable enough to let his pace slow to a brisk walk. His breathing had only gotten slightly harder from their sprint, but the mienfoo looked like he was on his last legs: knees knocking together, "fur" soaked in sweat and panting loud enough to draw a anyone half-paying attention.

"Keep it together," Zoroark murmured. Jeez, just how out of shape was this human in?

To his credit, the mienfoo made a valiant effort to keep up with him as they explored room after room, and by the time they found the stairs behind a few fallen rocks he had mostly gained his bearings back, his face red as a tamato berry.

With each room they went in and out of, Zoroark began to notice a distinct lack of rogues coming their way. Even with the mienfoo's increased volume, they weren't attacked a single time ever since the mandibuzz encounter. He should've been pleased with this, but it did just the opposite. His muscles grew as taut as wire, and every little noise made him flinch. Every shadow he saw out of the corner of his eye, he suspected was a rogue.

But nothing happened, even as they descended to the third floor. It was like the calm before the storm.

_This doesn't mean anything. They're just busy eating the mandibuzz,_  he reassured himself.  _That's all._

Internally, he remained unconvinced.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts, that the  _human_  had to point out the stairs to Zoroark before he could drag him past it. He mentally slapped himself.  _Dumbass! Pay attention, or you're going to get your head bitten off,_  he scolded himself.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he grumbled, swatting his hand away when the mienfoo reached up to him. It was fucking insulting, really, having this scrawny human fuss over him like  _he_  was the delicate one. If it weren't for the fact that they were trying to avoid rogues, he would've told him to screw off already.

Zoroark shook his head.  _Not the time to think about this. Just a few more hours, and then you're home-free._

However, when they reached the bottom of the staircase, his nerves were suddenly set on high alert. Right off the bat, it was clear why. Unlike the previous floors, which had multiples areas for him to explore, this had only a spacious area surrounded by craggy walls towering over them, devoid of anything but a single worn path leading out to what should be the end of the dungeon. He couldn't even sniff out any rogues.

He took an uncertain step back, but the stairs had already vanished. Of course.

"Um... Is that the way out?" the mienfoo whispered.

Zoroark nearly snapped out a "What do you think?", but stopped himself just in time.  _This is a human. He doesn't know anything about mystery dungeons,_  he reminded himself.

"Yeah, that's right," he said instead, scanning the room as he said that. Damn it, he should've taken more time to explore this dungeon more thoroughly last night, but he had been so tired that he thought that it'd be fine. Now, he didn't know if it was better to wait, or just book it out of here.

He took a step forward, but the sound of skittering pebbles made him freeze in place. Where did that come from...? Zoroark's gaze turned down, noticing that loose pebbles and rocks were rattling across the ground, like there was a mild earthquake. But that couldn't be. And it wasn't a stampede either, there wasn't enough room to even swing a meowth, and besides, there was no way a rogue could get into this room-

"Zoroark?"

The mienfoo's petrified squeak caught his attention. Annoyed, he turned around to snap at him, but the mienfoo's pallor and trembling finger killed his words. Slowly, his gaze drifted down from his finger to his own feet, where a thin crack was creeping along the ground. As the crack grew, so did the ominous rumbling. It was almost like-

It clicked.

Zoroark yelled, "GET AWAY!" and leapt ten feet back at the same time. The mienfoo, caught off-guard, barely managed to scramble away before the rocky ground completely broke and a giant hand rammed through the surface. Three metal claws gleamed menacingly in the harsh sunlight.

The ground rumbled as the owner of the of the hand crawled out of the ground, shaking dirt and dust everywhere as it rose further and further up, until the metal behemoth towered over even him.

It was the dungeon's leader.

"GRAAAAAH!"

The mienfoo scrambled behind a boulder. Zoroark backed up until his back was against the wall, but he still felt far too close to the rogue. Its horns, as deadly as a knife, was pointed straight at his chest. Its body was suited with armor made of the same material as its horns, tiny chips and scratches decorating the surface. Its icy blue eyes burned holes in his head.

It was an aggron. An aggron far larger than any he had ever seen before. His mind flashed back to the countless arons he had kicked aside, and his situation suddenly seemed much more dangerous.

And it was charging right at him—!

Zoroark didn't waste time with words. He just dove out of the way, tucking into a roll and tumbling a good distance away. A deafening "wham" shook the entire room, and his back was sprayed with loose bits of rock and dirt.

He jumped to his feet and turned. The beast had plowed straight into the wall, unable to swerve in time, and was grunting in frustration as it struggled to free its embedded horns. He didn't have much time, he could already see the horns loosening bit by bit.

"Hah... hah..."

Even above the aggron's growls, he could pick up the kid's frightened whimpers. Understandable, but he was forgetting one thing: aggron was a steel-type. It was easy pickings when faced with his flamethrower!

The aggron finally freed itself, wheeling around to stare him down.

"Hey, big guy. Looks like it's just you and me now," Zoroark said casually, crouching down to a fighting stance. "Ready to tussle?"

It just snorted, lowering its horns again. It didn't seem any more aggressive than before; it looked like it hadn't noticed the mienfoo yet. Let's hope he could keep it that way. "Well, come on then!" he taunted.

That broke whatever held the aggron back. It let out a ferocious roar that shook his bones, and it began charging at him with the speed and grace of a stampeding tauros. Zoroark waited until the the distance between them closed to an inch, and he made a grab for its horns and hauled himself into its back. It roared in anger and made a swipe at him with its Metal Claws, but he was already making a mad dash down its back and hopping off onto the ground. He turned on his heel and blasted its back with a Flamethrower, before it had a chance to turn back around.

The attack struck home, scorching a section of its metal plating charcoal black. But it didn't deter the rogue one bit. To his mute horror, the aggron turned, growling and flexing its claws at it raised them in the air. It rushed at him again, exponentially faster than before, and by the time Zoroark could finally move his legs, the rogue was on him in that instant.

He barely countered the Metal Claws with a Night Slash. The impact sent painful reverberations through his bones, and he staggered backwards as his body struggled to regain its bearings. He thought that the aggron would be equally affected.

He was wrong.

He didn't see the Iron Tail coming towards him, but the "crack" told him all he needed to know as its thick tail smashed into his ribs. He was swept off his feet, hanging in mid-air before a mighty Metal Claw struck him in that split-second and sent him flying. The world spun around him as he was flung to the side violently, crashing against the rock wall with a sickening "crunch". He collapsed onto the ground without a shred of resistance.

The illusion dissolved. His lungs felt like they were caved in. Each breath came in short gasps, and his vision wavered. Something warm flowed down the side of his leg, and his paw came away matted in a coppery-smelling fluid. He hadn't even noticed the Metal Claw slicing through his side — the adrenaline coursing through him dulled any sense of pain he felt. The ground beneath him shook as the rogue closed in more and more, but his legs still refused to move an inch.  _I got too careless..._  was his last thought as he closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable blow...

"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

His eyes snapped open when a far too small voice shouted, and his eyes followed the tiny rock bouncing harmlessly off the aggron's head. The aggron turned to face its new opponent: a human boy ten times smaller than itself, staring up at it with abnormal amounts of defiance.

_That idiot attacked it with a rock,_  he thought numbly.  _He used a rock to attack a 'mon that_  eats  _rocks for breakfast._

The aggron shifted, and Zoroark snapped back to reality. The look in its eyes made it clear that the aggron was not at all happy. The kid realised it too, and his stance turned unsure. "Run!" he tried to shout, but all that came out was a pitiful wheeze.

The kid got the message anyway. He turned tail and skittered away as the aggron bellowed in rage, charging after him.

Zoroark gritted his teeth. This wasn't the time to be lying around. He'll be the next one to go down if the rogue finishes off the kid. Ignoring his screaming body, Zoroark staggered unsteadily to his feet, paw pressed against the bleeding wound.  _The thing's distracted! I have a clear shot now!_

One good Flamethrower should be able to drive it away. He tried to summon the flames, but the cuts in his side seemed to burn worse with agony. He bit down a scream, nearly dropping to his knees.  _No...!_

"AAIIIIEE!"

The kid was sprawled out on the ground, screaming and desperately trying to crawl away as the aggron stood over him, claws splattered with his own blood. Something about the scene before him hardened something inside of him, and that something pushed him to his feet despite his injuries. "Hey, ugly! Pick on someone your own size!"

The aggron turned. Whatever it was thinking about Zoroark's taunts, it didn't have time to retort before receiving a point blank Flamethrower to its face. It roared and stomped in pain, clawing at its burned eyes.

He didn't waste any time. He ripped out a blast seed from his bag and hurled it with his other paw. The seed sailed through the air towards a chink in the rogue's back, but he didn't wait for the explosion. He was already running towards the petrified kid, agony flaring up with every thumping step, and by the time he reached his side, the seed had exploded.

His close proximity to the blast made the slash wound feel like it was being eaten inside out, and his vision nearly blacked out from the intensity of the heat.  _No, I have to keep moving. Keep moving, keep moving, keep moving!_

By what he was sure was sheer willpower by this point, Zoroark scooped up the kid and continued running forward, through the crevice and towards the light of the outside world, not pausing to see what happened to the aggron.  _Just keep running. Don't look ba-!_

His mane felt like it had caught onto something, and it was pulling him back. He ripped himself away and made one final leap over the boundary separating the mystery dungeon from the outside, and what sounded like an enraged roar was instantly cut off.

The sudden silence left his ears ringing. The harsh sunlight had softened, the walls had suddenly receded, leaving a vast, rugged landscape in its wake. They were out. They were finally out of the dungeon. They managed to escape with their lives by the skin of their teeth.

Zoroark was panting hard from the exertion, tremors running up and down his legs.  _That was... way too close. I'm never going back there if I can help it,_  he thought.

The adrenaline gradually faded... and the pain instantly increased tenfold. Zoroark barely managed a look of surprise before his knees buckled and he fell backwards, sliding down against a wall with an "oomph". His claws were slick with dark red blood, which was still oozing out of the open wounds.  _Oh god, it burns..._

"Zoroark!"

The kid was staring at him with his mouth forming an "o". What happened to him  _now_? He didn't get injured by the rogue, did he? After all that, he had better  _not_...

"You're hurt!"

... Never mind.

The kid dashed towards him, his bag in his hands (when did he get that?), and Zoroark realised immediately what was going to happen. "Wait wait wait-!"

The kid drove his entire weight into his middle in his haste to "help", and a little scream actually escaped from him. "I'm sorry!" he squealed, immediately jumping off (and kneeing his ribs again). His tiny hands fluttered helplessly over his bleeding frame and  _why wasn't he doing anything?_

He stared helplessly at him, and Zoroark grounded his teeth.  _Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out._ "You have the bag,  _right_?"

The human gave a jerky nod.

" _Then give me an oran berry._ "

The low growl worked  _much_  better than he had expected. He had never seen the kid move faster, not even with the rogue, as he tore open the bag and frantically rooting around for an oran berry. "Hey, careful with... that..." Zoroark snapped his mouth shut when his words started slurring, and his head felt like someone has filled it with helium. He pinched his eyes shut, and opened them again. Was there supposed to be that much blood coming out of him?

The kid didn't say anything, and he didn't give Zoroark a chance to either, before shoving the entire berry into his mouth. "Ghk-!"

It took him exactly three seconds to realise that he couldn't breathe at all, and his gagging reflexes kicked in. He choked and coughed until the berry fell out onto his open palm, and he shot a filthy glare at the ki-  _human_. "Thanks for trying to kill me," he said hoarsely. "You know, I was already bleeding out here, but I guess you couldn't help but pile it on, eh?"

"I-I w-w-wasn't-" As he continued stammering like an idiot in the background, Zoroark wolfed down the berry like he hadn't eaten in days. In a flash, it was completely devoured, and the healing properties of the berry began taking effect as the compressive ache in his chest lightened, as well as the numerous bruises and cuts on his body. However, it was going to take more than a measly oran berry to fix the gaping wound in his side.  _I'd kill for a sitrus berry right about now. Or maybe some bandages..._

Wait, bandages? He glanced at his bag. He didn't have any  _actual_  bandages, but he remembered picking something up the day before... "Hey, k- human. Can you grab some scarves outta my bag for me? I should have a few white ones somewhere in there..."

"Y-you mean the white cloth?"

His wound twinged again, and he hissed in pain. "Yes  _yes_ , the white ones. Will you hurry- No, not  _that_." He tossed a red scarf aside. "A little deeper in... Yeah, that's the one."

The human pulled out several white scarves. Defence scarves. Zoroark felt a little bad about wasting them like this, but this was an emergency. He could always snatch up more later. With his help, Zoroark managed to tie the scarves together and wrap the whole length around the wound, somewhat staunching the blood flow. He was genuinely surprised to find that none of his ribs were broken, even if they  _felt_  like it.

It was a shit excuse of bandages, and it felt like his ribs were being squeezed inwards, but he couldn't afford to be picky about it now.

"That's... that's so much blood...," the human gulped.

"It's fine," he lied, struggling to his feet. His mouth curled down in disgust when he realised how much blood was coating his right leg, causing his fur to stick together in unsightly clumps. "Come on, we have to keep moving, before anything else finds us."

The human whipped his head around in alarm. "Huh? We're still in the weird place?"

Weird place...? Oh, he meant the dungeon. "No we're not, but trust me, there is a lot more to worry about than that 'weird place' if we don't get a move on now."

Finally getting the message, the human picked up his bag and held it out to him. After a moment's hesitation, he waved it off. "Nah, it's alright. Hold onto it for a while more for me." As much as he'd like his stuff back, he'd probably collapse if he tried to carry it now. He could defend himself better without it weighing him down anyway.

"Oh, um... Okay." He held his bag gingerly as Zoroark began leading him in the northern direction again. It wasn't long before they found another small stream, and Zoroark took his sweet time scrubbing the congealed blood out of his fur while the human stood to the side, staring at...

Zoroark twitched when he realised the human staring right at him, mouth as flat as the surface of still water. What the hell was his deal  _now_? The longer he watched, the more obvious it became that the human wasn't going to come closer on his own any time soon, and his patience quickly ran out. "Oi!"

The human jumped. "How long are you going to stand there for, huh? Get over here!" he ordered, gesturing him forward sharply.

Zoroark didn't let himself question his decision. He just watched the human skitter over to him, head bowed meekly. When he got closer, it became clear that the human wasn't alright like he had initially thought. Physically he was fine, all he could see was some scraped knees from when he had tripped. However, the way his lips were pinched together so tightly until they were stark white, and how his arms were pressing themselves against his body, told him that the encounter had shaken him more than he was letting on. "... so do you have something to say, or are you just gonna keep burning holes with your eyes?" he asked, crossing his arms.

The rigid facade cracked a little as a blush crept onto his cheeks. "I-I'm sorry," he squeaked.

"That doesn't answer my question." Scowling now, he jabbed a claw at the human's chest. "You had better spit it out now, because I am  _not_  putting up with your creepy staring for the rest of this trip."

The blush deepened. "... it was just s-scary," he mumbled.

"Scary."

A single, hesitant nod.

Zoroark resisted the urge to facepalm. Really? That was it? "K— _Human_. That rogue was  _supposed_  to be scary. That's why it's a  _rogue_. It didn't even get you in the first place, what're you so scared about?" he scoffed.

"I..."

"What, did you think it was going to give hugs and kisses to you? Like all the other rogues were doing?" His voice had taken on full sarcasm mode at this point. "Because in case you haven't figured it out by now, idiot, everything in mystery dungeons is designed to maim or eat you, and the rogues in there are just as dangerous. So  _next_  time," His voice grew harder, " _don't_  use sticks and stones to attack the enemy. Then maybe you won't find them so 'scary'."

"I... I'm sorry," he repeated, his voice wavering like he was about to cry. Zoroark felt his indignation melt away slightly, and he sighed.  _I... might have gone a little too far there._

"Uh... but hey, there won't be anymore dungeons after this," he offered in a significantly less hostile tone, and the human raised his head. "So there isn't going to be anymore rogues after this, just... walking."

The human's previously miserable expression turned ever so slightly hopeful. "Really?"

"Yeah, that's right."  _And thank god for that._  "So... please don't cry."

"I wasn't crying!" he huffed, his previous fear forgotten in an instant. Jeez, that was fast.

"Uh huh. Sure." Rolling his eyes, Zoroark checked his leg again, running his claws through his fur. It wasn't sticking together anymore, and he smiled with relief.

After shaking the excess water out of his fur, Zoroark began scanning the horizon. In the distance, he could make out an outline of green, which he assumed to be the forest surrounding the bay. If he remembered correctly, they should be able to reach the docks in about an hour or so if they continued along in a straight line. He hoped that his plan worked, because if it didn't... then he was still going to leave the kid there, because there was no way in hell he was bringing him along—

Oh crap, he just realised that his illusion was gone —  _had_  been gone — for the past few minutes, leaving them horribly exposed for any potential witnesses. Zoroark hastily tried to pull over another one, but he doubled over in pain when the pain flared up.  _Ow ow ow! Oh..._

Damn it, he hated it when this happened. No illusions, and he didn't have any vanish seeds. Great, just great. Well, he'll just have to hurry like his ass was on fire and hope to Arceus that nobody saw the kid.

"Are you okay, Zoroark?" he asked timidly, once he climbed out of the stream.

The brief respite the wash had given him completely evaporated at this point. So it wasn't enough that the kid nearly got  _him_  killed and nearly broke into a puddle of tears because of that, he had to go and act like he was in any position to fuss over him? "Yeah yeah, I'm fine," he said shortly, while his torso screamed otherwise. "Don't waste your breath worrying about me, just worry about not getting yourself caught, got it?"

The kid gave a small nod. They began their trek towards the bay again, but this time, Zoroark made sure to keep him near him (far away from his injured side) and covered under his shadow. For some reason, the human now looked supremely uncomfortable with the distance between them. Wasn't  _he_  the one clinging onto him like a komala just a few minutes ago? Were humans supposed to be this wishy-washy?

The pleasing sound of the bubbling stream faded as they walked further along. The huge cliffs on either side gradually drifted farther and farther apart, making way for the forest he had spotted earlier, and he could barely catch the telltale whiff of salt water in a passing breeze.  _We're nearly there,_  he thought with no small amount of relief.

Then his ears caught a familiar squeak, and his glee faded. He turned his gaze down at the human. He was staring right back at him, his mouth opening and closing as if he was teetering at the edge of saying something. This human stared a lot for not having visible eyes, now that he thought about it. "What, did you already forget what I said about spitting it out?"

The human tugged at his blindfold nervously. "Um... um..."

The fidgeting grew worse, and so did his impatience. " _What_?"

"What was that weird place?" he blurted out. "You never told me that..." He trailed off into an indistinct mumble.

"Ah." Did he ever promise to talk about them? He couldn't remember. And besides, how the hell was he supposed to explain something as common as mystery dungeons?

The human was staring at him expectantly. Well, if it meant keeping the human quiet, then he'll find a way to do it. "Ngh, how do I say this... they're. Places? Mazes, kind of. You saw how it was just now, right?"

He nodded

"Yeah, so they're like mazes."

"..."

"..."

"... That's it?" the human asked, disappointment clear in his voice. "Then what about the crazy Pokémon? Why'd they attack us for?"

After glancing around to make sure nobody was nearby, he answered.

"Oh, that's easy. It's 'cause they're jerks," he answered breezily. "They just  _hate_  whoever enters their territory with a vengeance, and they'll always try and take a nibble out of you whenever possible. Best way to deal with them is to run or punch back."

"But  _why_?" he stressed.

"Why what?"

"Why're they staying there for? Can't they look for a nicer home to stay at?"

"Because they lost their mind already. They don't know how to get out of there," he said. "They're usually bred from the rogues already in the dungeons, but once in a while some poor schmuck drops in and goes insane when they can't get out."

The human gasped, finally having an expression that didn't reflect fear. "They can't get out? But can't they just find the stairs and get out, like you?"

He got  _really_  chatty once they were out of the canyon, Zoroark noticed.

He sighed. At least it would distract him from the recurring pain in his leg. "It's not that easy, ki—human. In case you didn't see just now, space and time can get  _really_  wonky in those kinds of places, so every time you go to a new floor, the stairs can be next to you or on the other side of the freaking place. We only got out because of my expertise," he added smugly, "and because I prepared the night before. If I hadn't, we would've been lunch meat to that mandibuzz already."

"But then they shouldn't go in there if they didn't prepare!" he protested.

Zoroark rolled his eyes. Seriously, how stupid was this human?  _"Shouldn't go in there"_. He'd pay money to see him try and say that to anyone else but him.

"They didn't go in there because they  _wanted_  to, idiot. Use your head, nobody in their right mind wants to go into a mystery dungeon empty-handed," he chided. "It's nearly impossible to spot a dungeon entrance without knowing what it looks like beforehand. Remember what the one to Rockfall Canyon looks like?"

"... a... hole in the wall?" the kid ventured.

"And d'you think you could've spotted that on your first try?"

"... no..."

"Exactly. Mystery dungeons are always like that, hiding themselves around us and springing out when we least expect it before finishing off their victim like a... like a..." He was snapping his claws as he tried to come up with a suitable metaphor.

"Like it's alive!"

"Alive"? Well, that was a first. "Alive? Really?"

"Yeah! It's like a biiiiig monster that's always moving and trying to eat Pokémon, and you can't beat it," he said, spreading his arms wide apart for emphasis. "And it made me feel really weird too, like something was watching me all the time."

"Yeah, that'll be the rogues eyeing you like lunch," he agreed.

"No, not the crazy Pokémon! It was something else!" he insisted. "Didn't it make you feel all weird and floaty too?"

"... No."

The human's face grew almost pouty, but before he could voice his protests, Zoroark held up a paw, stopping him in his tracks. They had been talking for so long, he hadn't realised that they had already arrived under the cover of the forest surrounding the bay. The late afternoon sun's rays were blocked off by the thick foliage, casting shadows that shimmered in the breeze like mirages. Just a few metres ahead, he could make out a few snippets of conversations — normal, day-to-day chatter.

Judging by how the human was turning his head left and right, he must have heard it too. "Hey, human. You listening to me?"

He nodded.

"Good, because this is the part where you're supposed to keep your mouth shut. For  _real_  this time," he added sharply. The human didn't make a peep. "No more questions, no more chit-chat. Just keep walking, and stay behind me at all times."

The human shifted behind him slightly.

"Yeah, just like that. I hope you remember what I said about any 'mon seeing you being bad for your health, because we'll be sneaking past a whole town of 'em." His eyes widened behind the blindfold. "Yeah, you heard me right. So about staying quiet..."

He hadn't finished his sentence before the human began nodding rapidly. He gave his own nod of satisfaction, and he grabbed the human's hand before leading him off the beaten path, towards the right side of the town. Hidden in the shadows of the tree cover, they went unnoticed by the various town locals. The town itself was pretty small, which meant the numerous souvenir stands and food stalls were cramped close to each other, creating the illusion of a busy afternoon crowd by cramping everyone together. The majority of them were the typical 'mons one would expect to find near a body of water, but there were a few who were obviously not from this island, like the litleo adorned with a silvery bow next to a food stand. All of them didn't so much as turn their heads as the duo snuck past them.

He could see the entrance to the docks now. It was nothing too fancy; just a wooden frame with a broad sign reading "Bon voyage! Thank you for visiting!", with pictures of starmies and staryu carved into it. Hanging from the frame was a rope with a note hanging from it. From the distance between it and them, however, the best he could make out were a few scribbles. It stood relatively far from the rest of the town too.

But that wasn't a problem. It was just a straight line over the gate and to the docks, where  _he_  would be. And then it would be all over. They would say their "tearful goodbyes" to one another, and he would never have to see the human ever again. Zoroark hadn't really out much thought into it, but now that he had the time... Well, he was definitely relieved. No human meant no more looking over shoulder constantly, no more sharing of his supplies, no more pointless questions...

But as he thought about it, his doubt slowly grew as well. How was the human going to react to being essentially dumped on  _him_? The human had already shown that he was prone to spastically switch from one mood to another, so for all Zoroark knew, the moment he tried telling him that would be when the kid decided to go nuts instead.  _Maybe I should try breaking it to him now..._

_Wait— What the hell am I thinking?!_  No, there was no way in hell he was going to tell the human now, unless he wanted to get mobbed by the townies when he started whining. Best to leave it for  _after_  they got out of earshot.

But that left him with one more question. How was he going to get to the bay without being seen? He brushed his claws against the makeshift bandages, which was stained red on one side. It still hurt like hell, but... maybe for a few seconds...

Tch, it looked like he had to just go for it. "Alright, listen to me very,  _very_  carefully for this part, okay?" he whispered. The human held his breath. "We are gonna make a break for the docks there. No looking back, no stopping, just keep running when I give you the signal, okay?"

But the kid was shaking his head even as he talked. For a second, Zoroark thought he was shaking his head at his plan (and was just about to tell him what for), but then he realised that the human was looking right at the townies and put two and two together. "What, them?"

He nodded.

"Hrn... I think I  _should_  be able to keep us under an illusion for a couple of seconds," he said slowly. "That should be enough time for us to run there."

Zoroark didn't let himself see the skeptical look the human was giving him. He could do it! Just a... few... seconds!

The air rippled around them, and Zoroark immediately began running with the human in tow. Sand was kicked up as their feet pounded against the ground, but none of the locals batted an eye, not even as Zoroark vaulted himself over the fence and hauled the human over it. But he didn't dare to take any chances. As fast as he could, Zoroark dragged the human towards the back of a small ticket booth, and ducked behind it. It was empty, thank god, and he let the illusion fall apart when nausea threatened to wash over him.

The two of them took the chance to catch their breath, the human more so than him. Panting slightly, Zoroark silently scanned the entirety of the bay for the 'mon he was looking for.

A feeling of uneasiness immediately gripped his heart. It took him a few moments to place exactly why: the bay was completely devoid of life, starkly contrasting the lively town. There was not a single soul to be seen, not even the lapras family responsible for ferrying passengers, and suddenly the unusual number of tourists in the town made sense. The sea breeze whistled loudly, yet emptily, around them.

_What the hell happened?_  Whispering an order for the human to stay down, Zoroark cautiously peeked over the ticket counter to assess the situation. The sand was the first thing to catch his attention. It was messed up from their run here, sure, but he didn't think that a five second run could create the numerous pits he saw scattered around the bay. It was almost like multiple 'mons had something to do with it...

Did a scuffle break out here? And was it related to the ferry service being closed? Or was it another one of those fabled, months-long voyage he kept hearing about? Oh god, Zoroark hoped not, because otherwise he'll—

"Zoroark?"

A tiny voice interrupted his worsening imaginings. The human had shifted closer to his elbow and was plucking at his blindfold again. "Where's the town? You said you'll bring me to one, right?" he asked meekly.

Zoroark sucked in a breath through his teeth. This was going to suck. He hoped that the human was still too winded to do anything too bad, but... His mind flashed back to the night before, and he grimaced.

_Well, I didn't get through life without giving it a shot first, ha ha... ha..._  Before he could fully lose his nerve, Zoroark called out, "Human?"

His head snapped up. "Y-yes?"

Zoroark sucked in a deep breath. "Just... shut up and listen to me for a second, okay?" he began. "This has everything to do  _both_  of our health."

_That_  got his attention. His eyes widened a smidge, and he shuffled closer to Zoroark. Okay... just get it out fast and quick...

"Look, I was...  _going_  to get someone to...  _ferry_  you to your homeland and— hey hey hey hey! What did I say about shutting up?" Zoroark said hastily when the human's mouth opened an inch. He closed his mouth again, a frown deeply etched in his brows. "Anyway, I was going to get someone to ferry you to your homeland, because that 'mon knows — possibly,  _maybe_  — where humans like you lived. But  _apparently_ , everyone decided to take a nice little trip at the same time!" He scowled pointedly at the empty sea. "I'm going to find a 'mon, or a boat, or a raft, whatever. Anything to get you out of here, while you stay here and hide. You'll stick out like a sore thumb if you keep following me, so stay crouched and  _don't say anything_."

"... … You lied to me?" was all he said in a small, injured voice.

_Because I didn't want you to bolt off!_

"I don't have to explain myself to you," was all  _he_  said. Zoroark turned heel and stalked away before the human could get a word in edgewise. Throwing on a simple invisibility illusion, Zoroark began walking along the length of the bay.

Baleful Bay, which was really more of a port than a recreational place, was simple in design: just a plain wooden boardwalk that stretched out above the water, where the ferry 'mons would park themselves for the next batch of passengers. Empty, of course. There was also the ticket booth, which he passed by several times while going up and down the length of the bay. The human was staring ahead with a pensive expression, his body remaining as still as the undisturbed sea in front of him.

Creepy.

That rapidly became less of a problem as time went on, however, and after about five or six trips up and down, Zoroark was ready to punch something. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. Zilch. Nada. Not even a piece of driftwood for the human to cling onto.  _Goddamnit!_

He leaned against the ticket stand, taking a moment to catch his breath as his mind raced to figure out the bizarre situation. Sure, it had been months since he last "visited" the bay, but he was sure that they would have left  _someone_  here, at the very least. Where the hell were they?

"Zoroark..."

He quickly shot a glare in his direction, motioning for him to hush up.

"Zoroark...!"

" _Quiet_ ," he hissed.

"Behind you!"

Those two words made him drop to the ground instantly. Heat — blistering,  _familiar_  heat — shot overhead a split second later, and he could feel it even through his mane.

"Zoroark!" He heard a rhythmic thump-thump-thump of tiny footsteps along the sandy ground, but that abruptly stopped when a new voice barked out, "Stay where you are!"

That was—!

His head snapped around. Three figures were sprinting towards them at breakneck speed. Three figures he knew  _very_  well.  _No no no, I was fucking trying to avoid this! Damnit!_

He scrambled to his feet as fast as possible, but in the blink of an eye, the three 'mons had him surrounded on all sides, with the ocean at his back. His wound was hurting viciously again, but that was nothing compared to the rapid-fire beating of his heart, every  _thump_  threatening to burst free from his chest.

The kid was left dead centre in the impromptu ring they formed, his head looking ready to fly off his shoulders with the way he was whipping it left and right. They made eye contact, his lips quivering. The human seemed like he was silently begging for help, but what the hell could he do? Zoroark was the injured one here!

Boxed in by enemies, injured with no way to fight back without getting beaten to the ground, and no help whatsoever from the human...

It was official. He was completely,  _utterly_  screwed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Did you enjoy it? I hope so, haha. Feel free to leave a review (and make theories about this chapter while you're at it) ;)
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading this, and I wish you a lovely day!
> 
> \--MidnightMorpher

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So how was it? The most I’ve written for a PMD first chapter, and it’s just going to get bigger over time. Better or worse? Not too sure, to be honest, but I’d love to hear your opinions! See you next time!


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